Attacks against elderly Siberian teacher shock community

A high school in Siberia has found itself at the center of a scandal, after videos appeared online, showing students beating an elderly female teacher.

The 73-year-old sports instructor claims she does not remember any of the incidents because she suffers from memory lapses resulting from sclerosis. She continued going to work unsuspecting that she was being beaten up there.

It is reported that attacks have been taking place for about three months.

Teachers at the school say they have long known about the attacks, but were forced to keep quiet.

“Everyone was telling each other about it in a low voice, on their tip toes, because of the headmaster’s stance on the matter, the stance which was abided by for six years – not to wash dirty linen in public,” says the school’s chemistry teacher Elena Tsilakovskaya as quoted by Vesti TV channel.

The videos were being distributed among the pupils and were posted on the web.

The local education department found out about the incidents from people whose children study at the same school and who watched the video.

They filed a claim with the police. The school's head has since been sacked.

In an unexpected twist, the parents of one of the pupils who participated in an attack have filed a counter-claim, accusing the teacher of physically assaulting the pupils.